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Data Breaches

AI-Driven Attacks Add $1 Million to Data Breach Costs

AI-Driven Attacks Add $1 Million to Data Breach Costs

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IBM found malicious AI-driven attacks increased 56% from last year’s study, with the average breach now costing $6.04 million.

 

Key Takeaways

  • AI-driven attacks added an average of $1.01 million to malicious data breach costs.
  • More than 1 in 4 organizations experienced a malicious AI-driven attack, a 56% increase from last year’s study.
  • 21% of organizations experienced a breach involving an AI model or application.  Of these, 92% did not adequately restrict who could access their AI systems or require an additional identity check.
  • Extensive use of AI and automation in security reduced average breach costs by $1.93 million and shortened incidents by 65 days.

IBM found AI-driven attacks added an average of about $1 million to the cost of a malicious data breach, as attackers increasingly used AI to operate faster and at greater scale.

The average cost of a malicious AI-driven attack was $6.04 million, compared with $5.03 million for malicious attacks that did not involve AI.

The 2026 Cost of a Data Breach Report covered 602 organizations that experienced breaches between March 2025 and February 2026. Ponemon Institute conducted 3,558 interviews with executives, security personnel, and other employees familiar with the incidents.

AI-driven attacks increase

More than 1 in 4 organizations experienced a malicious AI-driven attack. That represents a 56% increase from last year’s study.

Deepfake and impersonation attacks accounted for 45% of these incidents. AI-generated phishing and other fraudulent communications accounted for 19%, as did AI-created or modified malicious software.

Financial services and energy companies accounted for a combined 62% of the AI-driven attacks in the study. Average breach costs reached $6.29 million for financial companies and $5.2 million for energy companies.

IBM said generative AI has reduced the time, cost, and technical expertise needed to create impersonation attacks and other attempts to deceive employees.

Breaches targeting AI systems also rise

The report separately examined breaches where attackers targeted an organization’s AI models or applications.

AI-related breaches affected 21% of the organizations studied, up from 13% last year. Among affected organizations, 92% lacked proper security controls over who could access their AI systems.

In 30% of AI-related breaches, attackers compromised software connected to the AI system rather than the model itself. Problems with cloud security settings accounted for 27%.

68% of breached organizations either lacked policies for managing AI or were still developing them. Only 19% said their AI governance and security teams worked together on the rules and protections for AI systems.

Using AI in cybersecurity reduces costs

When looking at all cyber breaches (both AI- and non-AI-driven), IBM found that organizations extensively using AI and automation in security averaged a breach cost of $4 million. Organizations that did not use the technologies averaged $5.93 million, a difference of $1.93 million.

Those extensively using AI as part of their security protocols identified and contained breaches in 215 days, 65 days faster than organizations that did not use security AI and automation.

However, only 36% of the organizations studied used the technologies extensively. Another 39% reported limited use, while 25% did not use AI at all.

Abstract executive facing digital waves, illustrating AI-assisted phishing and impersonation attacks of corporate executives.

AI Makes Corporate Executives Easier Targets, Nisos Warns

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AI tools can combine scattered personal information in minutes. 94% of executives studied had exposed home addresses and passwords.

 

Key Takeaways

  • AI tools can quickly combine public records, breach data, and social media information into detailed profiles of executives and their families.
  • All 72 executives studied had breach data connecting their names to a current email address.
  • 94% had a home address publicly linked to their name, while the same share had at least one exposed password.
  • 15% had been targeted by social media impersonators, most often for financial scams or deceptive messages.

AI is making it faster and easier for attackers to gather the personal information needed to target corporate executives with convincing phishing and impersonation attacks, according to a new report from Nisos.

Information that once required hours of searching across public records, data breaches and social media can now be collected and connected in minutes. Attackers can use the resulting profiles to create messages that appear to come from executives, colleagues or relatives.

Nisos also found that AI chatbots can reveal or help locate home addresses, family relationships and other personal details. That information can support cyberattacks as well as stalking, home intrusion, and other physical threats.

AI Speeds Up Executive Research

Nisos said it observed people using social media chatbots to request executives’ home addresses, social media accounts and information about their spouses and children.

Most chatbots did not provide complete answers, but they offered clues that could help users find the requested information through additional searches. The tools also responded to questions about which companies or individuals to target.

In its own testing, Nisos found that some AI models provided executives’ residential addresses using information linked to people-search websites and property records. Some models initially refused but disclosed accurate information after researchers reworded their questions or provided a different reason for asking.

The report did not measure how frequently attackers use AI in this way. It found that the technology can shorten the research needed to prepare personalized attacks and make that process accessible to people with fewer investigative or technical skills.

Nisos found that social media impersonation accounts targeted 15% of the executives. Most of those accounts impersonated executives to run financial scams or trick people into revealing information.

Personal Information Is Widely Exposed

The research found that all 72 executives had breach data connecting their names to at least one current email address. Another 94% had at least one password exposed as readable text.

Social Security numbers appeared in breach data for 64% of the executives. For 54%, those numbers were also listed for sale on dark web marketplaces.

Home information was similarly common. Nisos found public home addresses for 94% of the executives, while 86% had residences with interior images, floor plans or blueprints available online.

Family members often expanded that exposure. Executives’ immediate relatives maintained an average of eight public social media accounts, and 97% of those accounts disclosed personal details about the executive.

Roughly 32% of executives or their relatives shared location information through fitness apps or geotagged social media posts. Nisos said attackers can use those details to identify routines, map residences, or determine when someone is away from home.

The report also found that 25% of executives or their spouses used a public profile photo that included a minor child.

Nisos reviewed 72 executive vulnerability assessments conducted across a range of industries and locations between 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. The company examined public records, people-search sites, social media, property information, and data from previous security breaches.